


Changes

by navyblueoveryou



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teenagers, F/F, Fluff, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:35:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25654525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navyblueoveryou/pseuds/navyblueoveryou
Summary: Ellie's been off on a trip for nearly two months with Joel over the summer, and when she comes back, Dina hardly recognizes her. Dina's queer awakening ensues - oh, and Cat shows up.
Relationships: Dina & Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 90





	Changes

**Author's Note:**

> Hey ya'll! So I had tumblr user thismodernage shoot this headcanon over:  
> "i have a headcanon that dina always thought ellie was kind of cute in a kiddie way and then ellie disppears on a camping trip with joel one summer and comes back looking like puberty hit her like a mack truck. ellie just goes from being a scrawny string bean to being taller than dina with biceps almost overnight and dina really does not know what to do with this change at all and then theres cat."  
> i was legitimately obsessed, so I took a minute to scribble down some awkward teenage Dina and Ellie feelings. Since we've never seen much of them as younger teenagers (we've definitely never seen Dina as a younger teen!), I had to jump on that first crush vibe. I posted this on tumblr originally (dinaspapercrown.tumblr.com) but wanted to post it here, too. Enjoy the awkward kiddos!

Dina sat quietly in the booth, hunched over an old-world radio with concentration etched into her furrowed brow. She’d been working on the damn thing for weeks now, and while she’d gotten a few scrambling static sounds out of it, it wasn’t quite there yet. Eugene had insisted on being hands-off for this project. “You know what you’re doin’,” he told her when she’d come to him in frustration. “Figure it out.”

So in her stubbornness, she swore she’d never ask for help again. Dina was going to fix this damn radio if it was the last thing she ever did. This one was particularly important, as it had a tape deck to play cassettes. If she could just get it to work, she could gift it to–

“Hey, welcome back!”

Dina’s ears perked up and her hands stopped tinkering. From across the inn, she could hear the doors shutting behind her and the shuffling of footsteps that followed. Joel’s voice was so distinct, she could identify it from a mile away. Before she had the chance to turn around, she felt a heavy hand against the back of her head give it a little shove before a body plopped into the booth across from her. “Hey, dummy.”

Dina looked up from her project to meet familiar green eyes that creased with that big, stupid grin. “Miss me?”

Ellie. Her best friend had been gone for close to two months now. She and Joel had gone on some kind of trip - Ellie hadn’t offered much insight, and Dina wasn’t going to pry. She knew Ellie’s relationship with Joel was rocky, so bringing it up wasn’t something she did often, if ever. 

“Not when you try to break my neck,” she sassed back with an eye roll, but a small smile called her bluff. She swallowed past the sudden dryness in her throat as she looked Ellie over. It was mid-August, and the summers in Wyoming weren’t quite as cruel as they had been in New Mexico, but still warm enough for summer clothes. Ellie’s white tank top was form-fitting and showed off an unfamiliar tan, along with muscles Dina had ever seen on her string bean of a friend. The voice that had slowly been growing deeper over the last few years was smooth and…where did that jawline come from…?

Dina could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks, spreading to her ears and down her neck. Fucking…goddamnit. She quickly turned her gaze down at the radio she’d been working on.

“How, um…how was your trip?” she tried to be nonchalant, but now she was flustered. She’d always thought Ellie was cute in this innocent way, but…not like this. Not in the kind of way that Dina noticed every single time her friend’s tongue grazed over her full lips before she spoke or the way that stupid smirk made her lightheaded. This was a joke, right? How had Ellie run head-on into the brick wall of puberty within the last two months? And more importantly, why was Dina so…flustered by it? She’d hit puberty already. She got plenty of attention for it, but it was never any that she was interested in engaging. Suddenly, the only person she wanted to notice her body was Ellie, and that was a mindfuck in itself.

Ellie shrugged her backpack off and set it next to her in the booth, stretching out her long legs under the table and accidentally slipping her feet between Dina’s in the process. Oh, she was tall now, too? Dina kicked her away, and Ellie reeled for a moment before bracing herself against the table and kicked right back, laughing with a devilish, shit-eating grin. Her laugh was enough to make Dina’s heart flutter - it was a really stupid one. It sounded like a heh-heh-heh-heh and it made Dina laugh out of pure contagiousness. 

“Stop!” Dina grumbled, but her lips couldn’t wash away the smile that lingered. Ellie eventually calmed down after a moment, instead pulling one knee to her chest and resting her cheek against it. 

“It was cool,” Ellie said, deciding to answer Dina’s question about her trip. “We went to a museum - have you ever been to one?” The way that Ellie’s face lit up could light the entire room. Dina simply shook her head in a daze. “No,” she said. “Tell me about it.”

Admittedly, Dina was trying to listen - she caught most of it, especially when Ellie’s voice would peak with excitement about massive dinosaur bones the size of her “entire fucking body” or how she’d completely schooled Joel on space. Dina smiled. Ellie and her astronaut thing. It was the sweetest thing she’d ever encountered. Ellie didn’t have the friendliest demeanor, and at times felt a bit standoffish. But Dina knew her better than that, knew that she was gentle and loving past that hardened exterior. Her life had been tough, and she’d built walls around herself for protection. Over the last few years, Dina had slowly but diligently chipped away from the outside until she could peek through - Ellie had eventually let her in, and Dina had found the sweetest soul in there, locked away from the world. It was an honor to know her.

“Sounds like you guys had a good time,” she said when Ellie’s stories had concluded, and Ellie nodded contently. 

“We did.” She went into her backpack and fished out a cassette tape as Dina tightened the last screw that she had laid out on the table, fumbling with the antenna. “Joel gave me a tape for my birthday. You think it’ll work in there?”

Dina sighed, looking at the radio. It was back in one piece now, but she wasn’t confident in its ability. “I…honestly don’t know.” She shrugged, her lips curled into a small frown. “Eugene wouldn’t help me on this one, so…” her eyes met Ellie’s. “It might blow up.”

Ellie’s brows raised in surprise, but that little semi-smirk seemed to be plastered to her face whenever she was with Dina. “I guess we’ll blow up then,” she decided, reaching for the radio. She looked up and their gazes met as she leaned across the table. The closer Ellie got, the faster Dina’s heart kicked against her chest. Could she hear it? “Do you mind?” she asked, and Dina shook her head, a bit dumbly, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. She’d never wanted to kiss someone so badly, especially not Ellie. But this wasn’t the Ellie she’d known. This was the Ellie she wanted to know, and way better than best friends.

That felt embarrassing.

Ellie turned the radio and pulled it towards her, and Dina couldn’t help but notice those long, nimble fingers as they wrapped around the body of her project. She felt hot at the idea of those fingers on _her_ body–

The tape deck clicked closed. “That’s a good sign, right?” Ellie asked, and Dina nodded. Was that all she could fucking do? Wow, how cute of her. Ellie would absolutely want to make a move on someone who could barely talk to her.

Dina reached over and adjusted the antenna as Ellie uselessly smashed the buttons. Eventually, the tape began to play. The sound was a bit scrambled, but once the antenna was positioned correctly, it became clear. Ellie’s smile was beaming as she cranked the volume knob. “It’s the Apollo 11,” she told Dina excitedly, reaching her hands out across the table, palm up. “Gimme your hands and close your eyes. Just listen.”

Dina swallowed past the lump in her throat. Her hands were clammy, and she quickly wiped them against her shorts before gently resting them in Ellie’s. They were so much bigger than her own hands, so much stronger, her fingers covered in calluses from learning how to play guitar. Dina quietly closed her eyes and listened to the old recording of a man’s voice that sounded like it was from a different time, a different planet, a different world. As the countdown neared zero, Ellie’s grip tightened on Dina’s hands and then loosened as liftoff was announced, and for a moment, it felt as if they were alone, floating into the nothingness together. Dina peeked through one eye and was awestruck at the softness of Ellie’s face - the sound had truly taken her away from it all, but her hands were still tangled in Dina’s. Dina could feel Ellie’s pulse against her thumb, slow and steady. She wondered if Ellie could feel hers, heavy and craving.

Once the recording ended, Ellie slowly opened her eyes with a deep breath and a smile. “How fucking cool is that?” she asked almost breathlessly, and Dina couldn’t help but return the same energy. It was cool - a relic from a time they’d never known. 

“It’s awesome, Ell,” she told her genuinely. “Perfect birthday present.”

Ellie frowned a bit before pulling her portable cassette player out of her bag, setting it on the table. “Well, it would be, but I think I broke my walkman,” she told Dina dejectedly. “The tape stutters. I asked Joel to fix it but he’s a dinosaur and useless.”

Dina looked at the radio she’d just fixed. She could probably fix Ellie’s tape player. It was so dear to her - there was never a day she was seen without it. 

“Why don’t you take the radio and I’ll look at the walkman,” she offered with a smile. Ellie perked up as if Dina would have never offered such a thing. 

“Dina, you just fixed this,” Ellie said, a small hint of guilt in her voice. “Are you sure…?”

“Positive,” she assured her. “It’s yours. I don’t have any tapes anyway. If I’m listening to them, it’s always with you, so…”

Dina’s face flushed at the memory of how many times they’d sat with their heads resting together, a headphone in each ear. It was another reason to fix Ellie’s walkman if she was honest with herself.

Ellie’s shoulders slumped as she smiled, clearly moved by the gesture. She pushed herself out of the booth and pulled Dina out too, reeling the smaller girl in for a hug. Ellie was nearly a head taller than her now, and her embrace was comforting and strong. It sent an unexpected chill down Dina’s spine. 

“Thanks, D,” she mumbled. “You’re the best.”

“Happy birthday, dummy,” she said with a smile in her voice. “I’ll fix your walkman.” She reeled away. “It’s probably just the pinch roller.”

Their moment was cut short by hands clasped over Ellie’s eyes from behind. Dina recognized the tattoos immediately. 

“Guess who?” 

The smile on Ellie’s face forced Dina’s heart into her toes. Fucking Cat.

When Ellie turned to face the other girl, Cat was quick to press a kiss to her lips, mumbling about how much she’d missed her. The wave of jealousy that hit Dina nearly knocked the wind out of her. She quickly grabbed her backpack and threw Ellie’s walkman in, pulling it over her shoulders and turning to leave. 

“Happy birthday, Ell,” she said. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Dina–” Ellie called out, trying to turn to grab her best friend’s hand, but Cat pulled her closer. “Stay and hang out with us!”

Dina looked back at the two. Cat seemed to be glaring at Dina over Ellie’s shoulder, but she couldn’t say that she wasn’t doing the same thing. Every fucking time. Cat had driven a wrench into their friendship when she’d come into the picture, and since Dina wasn’t ready to say anything about how she was suddenly feeling about Ellie, she was just going to head out. Maybe go find Jesse. Right. Boyfriend.

“I can’t,” she said, her voice lilting as she leaned against the doors. “I…am gonna go meet Jesse. But maybe some other time.”

Dina pushed out into the warm sun and wiped her sweaty palms against her shirt, her hands trembling. 

“…Fuck,” she mumbled to herself. 

_Fuck._


End file.
